Apparatus for the draft and breaking of synthetic textile fibres

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for the draft and breaking of synthetic textile fibres which is designed to receive a fibre sliver coming out of a breaking machine and to complete the breaking of those fibres which have not yet been broken, characterized by the fact that the apparatus comprises a draft and breaking unit including a series of successive draft operations carried out at increasing speeds, a transfer unit for receiving the material from the draft and breaking unit and guiding it to a draft gill box for combing and drafting the material and, thereafter, passing it to a collecting device. The draft and breaking unit comprises at least two successive draft fields wherein the length of the first draft field is at least a third longer than the length of the next draft field. The combing operation of the draft gill box is performed by the mutual effect of two sets of vertical faller pins facing each other and operating from the lower and the upper part of the sliver and which are caused to gradually engage the sliver advancing in its traveling direction.

United States Patent [1 1 Grossi [451 Oct. 21, 1975 APPARATUS FOR THE DRAFT AND BREAKING OF SYNTHETIC TEXTILE FIBRES [75] Inventor: Oscar Grossi, Bologna, Italy [73] Assignee: Tematex S.p.A., Imola, Italy [22] Filed: Nov. 19, 1973 Appl. No.: 417,049

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Primary Examiner-Dorsey Newton Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Wigman & Cohen 57] ABSTRACT Apparatus for the draft and breaking of synthetic textile fibres which is designed to receive a fibre sliver coming out of a breaking machine and to complete the breaking of those fibres which have not yet been broken, characterized by the fact that the apparatus comprises a draft and breaking unit including a series of successive draft operations carried out at increasing speeds, a transfer unit for receiving the material from the draft and breaking unit and guiding it to a draft gill box for combing and drafting the material and, thereafter, passing it to a collecting device. The draft and breaking unit comprises at least two successive draft fields wherein the length of the first draft field is at least a third longer than the length of the next draft field. The combing operation of the draft gill box is performed by the mutual effect of two sets of vertical faller pins facing each other and operating from the lower and the upper part of the sliver and which are caused to gradually engage the sliver advancing in its traveling direction.

3 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures \l I 1 I 132 B1 A l 4 4 I I l a l I l l l l I ll l 1 l 1 DRIVE MEANS l4 U.S. Patent Oct. 21, 1975 Sheet10f3 3,913,176

FIG.1 I

FIG.3

U.S. Patent Oct. 21, 1975 Sheet2of3 3,913,176

FIG.5

1 APPARATUS FOR THE DRAFT AND BREAKING OF SYNTHETIC TEXTILE FIBRES The present invention relates to apparatus for the draft and breaking of synthetic textile fibres which are commonly named technofibres in order to perform the so called tow to top operative cycle.

The method of operating the apparatus of the present invention comprises the step of feeding the material coming out of a conventional breaking machine in the form of a sliver or tow, the step of subjecting said tow to a draft and breaking process comprising a series of draft operations to impart to the sliver increasing tensile stresses to cause the breaking of the continuous filaments which are still present in the sliver subsequently of the previous conventional breaking operation, and a draft and combing step to straighten the fibres by using a system of moving pins forming a gill box unit. This latter operation can be carried out by a gill box including two pluralities of parallel pins forming the fallers and which are actuated by faller screws or by an operatively equivalent device comprising rotating heads supporting the faller pins and which are driven by control and guide cams, such a draft and combing unit enabling operation at higher speed and with improved performances as compared with those of the conventional devices which are used in the art for the same purpose. In the conventional treatment of the synthetic fibres an apparatus is commonly used which comprises the following machines:

A breaking machine, a rebreaker, a draft and defeltering machine and a draft and finishing machine.

The present invention provides an apparatus for carrying out the aforedescribed operative method, which comprises a non-conventional combination of known devices enabling reduction of the duration of the operative cycle, the overall dimensions of the apparatus as well as a saving of labor, while obtaining a top having an improved fibre distribution and a better echelonment of the fibres of different lengths along said top.

The accompanying drawings show merely by way of indicative example, without limiting the invention, an embodiment of this latter; in said drawings:

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a diagrammatic longitudinal side view and a top view respectively of the apparatus of this invention;

FIG. 3 is the charge end view of the apparatus, taken on line XX of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are an enlarged detail of the side view of the draft and breaking unit of the apparatus, as shown in FIG. 1, and a cross section respectively, taken on line Y-Y of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged side view of the draft and breaking unit, of the transfer unit and of the combing unit partially broken away with details and particulars which cannot be seen in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 7 is a top view of the unit, wherein the sliver is transferred from the draft and breaking unit to the combing unit.

Now referring to the FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 itis to be noted that the present invention concerns in particular only the three operative zones of the apparatus which are marked A, B and C in FIGS. 1 and 2, while in the zone E there is provided a conventional feeding creel including a plurality of cylindrical cans 1 having vertical axes and open upper ends, said cans containing the material which is to be fed to the zone A by a belt conveyor 2 or other suitable device, and then to the zone B of the ap- 2 paratus, the operative cycle developing from the right to the left hand in the direction of the arrows, if reference is made to FIG. 1.

The most important unit of this apparatus is that operating in the zone A.

This unit comprises a plurality of groups, each including three cylinders; in the shown embodiment only three cylinder groups are provided. Said groups are arranged in series. Each draft and breaking cylinder group comprises a upper cylinder 3 acting as a pressure cylinder, lined by anti'static rubber and two lower cylinders 4 made of steel and having grooved side surfaces. The pressure cylinders 3 are carried by self-aligning and self-centering bearings, and are associated with means for adjusting their pressure.

The cylinders 3 and 4 of each operative group are each supported at both ends in order to obtain a wider work field and a higher and more uniform specific pressure on the sliver passing thereacross in transversal direction thus allowing a greater material charge without attaining remarkable elastic deformations. Said cylinders are caused to rotate about horizontal axes which are substantially perpendicular to the travel path of the material. The cylinders 4 of each group are driven by drive means 14 (FIG. 6) which includes any suitable transmission means, not shown in the drawings.

In the zone A of the apparatus of the invention the fibre sliver or tow is subjected to a drafting and breaking action which is obtained by the drive means 14 causing the driving cylinders of the series of groups to rotate at different speeds, their speeds increasing in the travel direction of the material, i.e. from the right to the left hand according to FIGS. 1 and 2, so that the fibres which are longer than the spacing between two adjacent cylinder groups will be stressed to exceed their ultimate tensile stress.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, at least the two first groups of draft and breaking cylinders 3 and 4 are mounted on supports which can be displaced in the travel direction of the material by sliding along the rails 13 in order to enable adjustment of their spacing so as to vary the fibrous diagram, that is to say, in order to vary the distribution of the textile filaments of variable length according to a stochastic gaussian law.

It is also to be noted that the operative characteristics of this apparatus, as compared with the conventional machines, permit treatment of a set of incoming slivers in a superposed relationship. As has hereinabove been stated the draft and breaking unit A in the shown embodiment includes three cylinder groups A,, A and A arranged in series as best seen in FIG. 6. The distance between the two first groups A and A is greater than 240 mm so as to obtain, in a very long draft field, i.e. a fibre drawing which may vary from 1 to 1.21 according to the type of the treated material, in order to allow the fibres traveling along the draft field between the cylinder groups A and A to unformly distribute the fibres in the longitudinal direction in particular in the case of long filaments so that these latter can be broken in the next draft field between the cylinder groups A and A The second draft field or distance between the cylinder groups A and A has a length which is less than that of the first one; it may be of about mm, i.e. it is less by about a third of the length of the first draft field so as to enable correction of the fibrous diagram of the sliver. In this case the drawing effect can vary from 1.7 to 3.4 according to the type of the treated material; it is to be pointed out that the operative speeds of the cylinder groups A,, A and A are gradually increasing so as to attain the breaking of all the longest filaments 180 mm).

After the sliver has exited from the zone A, said sliver 4 It is to be noted that by the use of the apparatus of this invention, the production is 60% higher than that obtained by the conventional apparatus.

I claim:

enters the zone B comprising a section B,, where a 5 1. Apparatus for drafting and breaking synthetic texguiding and transfer unit (FIG. 7) is provided compristile fibres which remain unbroken subsequently of pasing a conical guiding conduit 6a communicating with a sage through a breaking machine comprising: substantially cylindrical conduit 6b, at the outlet of drafting and breaking means comprising a plurality of which are arranged two dragging cylinders 60 and 6d serially arranged drafting and breaking groups each having parallel axes and grooved side surfaces, the 10 group including an upper and two lower rotatable sliver which now has been transformed in a top being cylinders having parallel axes and arranged subgripped between said cylinders 6c and 6d so as to be fed stantially perpendicularly to the direction of feedthrough the a draft gill box or field 5 placed in the zone ing of a fibre sliver therethrough, said upper cylinmarked B and which is constituted of two pluralities of der comprising a pressure cylinder and having an vertical faller pins 11a, 11b respectively arranged in opelastically deformable substance on the exterior posite directions, the lowering and lifting of which may surface thereof, said lower cylinders comprising be controlled by a screw system associated with guiding driving cylinders and having metallic grooves on rails or by a rotating head system controlled by guiding the exterior surfaces thereof;

cams. feed means for continuously feeding a previously The draft gill box or field 5 by means of the insertion broken fibre sliver to said drafting and breaking of the pins in different positions and time relationship means; and the drafting effects obtained therewith, enables the driving means associated with said driving cylinders regularization of the fibre distribution of the sliver so as for rotating said driving cylinders of each of said to obtain a top having a uniform structure, a constant drafting and breaking groups, said driving means unit weight and which is ready to be fed to the next opincluding transmission means connected to said erative zone by means of the feeding cylinders 62, 6f, driving cylinders for transmitting motion from said and 6g, at least one of which is a driving cylinder. driving means to said driving cylinders so that the The following Table indicates the operative data obspeed of a successive drafting and breaking group tained by using fallers for intersecting driven by control is greater than the speed of the preceding drafting screws or by a head including rotating fallers the latter and breaking group; device being preferred since it permits an increase of draft faller means arranged subsequently of said the feeding speed of the sliver into the faller head from drafting and breaking means for combing and 16 to about 27.7 ml] with an incoming charge less than drafting the fibre sliver; the 15%. transfer means for receiving the fibre sliver from the TABLE Feed Feed charge speed Output Theor. Gramm. Feed Feed to to Draft Output top pro- Effi- End Ma- Couptop charge speed Prefallers fallers falspeed weight duct ciency product chine ling gr/mt gr/mt gr/mt draft Draft gr/mt gr/mt lers gr/mt gr/mt Kg/h Kg/h T3 12+ R= With 28.4 620 5.5 1.09 2.67 213 I6 9.7 155 22 200 80 I60 a 12 AR= fal- 22.8 ler head With 11+ rota- 28.4 560 8.9 1.1 2.88 180 17.7 7.2 200 25 300 80 240 3251 last one of said drafting and breaking means and guiding it to said draft gill means, said transfer means comprising a first substantially conical guid- The material coming out of the zone B is then passed in ing section and a second substantially cylindrical the zone C where a collecting'device is arranged folsection; and lowed by a conventional discharge unit which collects means arranged subsequently of said draft faller the top into cans 7 or on bobbins. means for collecting the fibre sliver.

The invention further utilizes two independent pneu- 2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the upper matic cleaning devices, one operating in the draft and and lower cylinders of each of said drafting and breakbreaking unit A and the other being associated with the ing groups are each supported at both ends thereof and gill box 5, said devices being per se of any convenincluding means for supporting each drafting and tional structure and being actuated by the motors 9 and breaking group in adjustable relation to one another in 10 respectively so that the operative cycle is improved the direction of travel of the fibre sliver. since such independent pneumatic devices can be de- 3. Apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the spacsigned with different capacities, the device having the 5 ing between a first pair of said plurality of drafting and higher capacity is operated in the zone A, where the dust and fibre waste production is higher than in the zone B.

breaking groups is at least one third longer than the spacing between a second pair of said groups. 

1. Apparatus for drafting and breaking synthetic textile fibres which remain unbroken subsequently of passage through a breaking machine comprising: drafting and breaking means comprising a plurality of serially arranged drafting and breaking groups each group including an upper and two lower rotatable cylinders having parallel axes and arranged substantially perpendicularly to the direction of feeding of a fibre sliver therethrough, said upper cylinder comprising a pressure cylinder and having an elastically deformable substance on the exterior surface thereof, said lower cylinders comprising driving cylinders and having metallic grooves on the exterior surfaces thereof; feed means for continuously feeding a previously broken fibre sliver to said drafting and breaking means; driving means associated with said driving cylinders for rotating said driving cylinders of each of said drafting and breaking groups, said driving means including transmission means connected to said driving cylinders for transmitting motion from said driving means to said driving cylinders so that the speed of a successive drafting and breaking group is greater than the speed of the preceding drafting and breaking group; draft faller means arranged subsequently of said drafting and breaking means for combing and drafting the fibre sliver; transfer means for receiving the fibre sliver from the last one of said drafting and breaking means and guiding it to said draft gill means, said transfer means comprising a first substantially conical guiding section and a second substantially cylindrical section; and means arranged subsequently of said draft faller means for collecting the fibre sliver.
 2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the upper and lower cylinders of each of said drafting and breaking groups are each supported at both ends thereof and including means for supporting each drafting and breaking group in adjustable relation to one another in the direction of travel of the fibre sliver.
 3. Apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the spacing between a first pair of said plurality of drafting and breaking groups is at least one third longer than the spacing between a second pair of said groups. 